1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine and a control method thereof and, more particularly, to a washing machine in which balancing is efficiently performed and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a washing machine is an apparatus which washes clothes and bedclothes (hereinafter, referred to as “laundry”) using water, detergent, and mechanical actions through washing, rinsing, and spin-drying processes so as to remove contaminants from the laundry.
Washing machines are divided into an agitator type, a pulsator type, and a drum type.
An agitator type washing machine washes laundry by rotating a washing bar, rising at the center of a washing tub, in leftward and rightward directions, the pulsator type washing machine washes laundry using frictional force between a water current and the laundry by rotating a disc-type rotation blade, formed at the lower portion of a washing tub, in the leftward and rightward directions, and a drum type washing machine washes laundry by putting water, detergent, and the laundry into a drum and then rotating the drum.
In the drum washing machine, a tub containing wash water is mounted in a cabinet forming the external appearance of the drum washing machine, a drum receiving laundry is disposed in the tub, a driving unit to rotate the drum is mounted on the rear surface of the tub, and a drive shaft passing through the tub and connected to the rear surface of the drum is axially installed on the driving unit. Lifters are mounted in the drum and lift the laundry during rotation of the drum.
In a washing machine, laundry is disposed to one side due to tangling of the laundry and thus, eccentricity in which one side of the drum becomes heavy occurs. If the drum is rotated at a high velocity under the condition that the laundry is disposed to one side (for example, when the laundry is spin-dried), vibration and noise are generated due to unbalance between the geometric center of a rotary axis of the drum and the actual center of gravity of the drum. In order to reduce such vibration and noise, a device to reduce unbalance of the drum, i.e., a balancer, is installed.
A washing machine provided with such a balancer requires proper balancing.